I recently visited New Orleans, and while there I took a guided tour of a couple of old cemeteries. We even saw the burial places of a few people who are a part of Louisiana history. It was fascinating to see how people dealt with the unique difficulties of burying someone in a city that is mostly below sea level. With the way the above-ground crypts work, there can easily be a dozen or more family members “buried” in the same small tomb.

It may seem gruesome to tour a cemetery, but the amount of history contained within those stone walls is amazing. I did notice one thing in common about all the people buried in that cemetery, though. In spite of how well known they were, or even if their names had been lost, they were all still dead.

That isn’t the case with Jesus. He died, but He didn’t stay dead. The grave could not hold Him. Death could not keep Him. God raised Him from the dead, giving Him victory over death. And because He gained the victory, we who are Christians also have victory that is ours in Christ.

The problem is, many of us don’t live like we are victorious. We mope around defeated, allowing Satan to have the upper hand. Yes, we still have some battles to fight, but we can go into them with confidence. We are on the winning side!